Margaret Fox Service

1. 10:00am - Claire de Lune

2. Opening - Daniel Fox

3. Michelle Kirby - Obituary & prayer

4. Leon - Speaks

5. Angie - Speaks and poem

6. Eulogy - Daniel

It was always an exciting time in our house when Mawmaw came to town. Here’s how it would go:

Usually, Dad and mom would go pick her up from the airport; sometimes we would tag along, but mostly we would wait with bated breath watching the large window out front, checking to see when they would arrive.

Eventually, we see her, give her gentle hugs and help bring her bags in. And as a kid, yes we were excited to see maw maw, but those suitcases…they contained something special. The intensity we had, awaiting her to open her suitcase and reveal what laid in wait… Those two loafs/ Nanner bread and applesauce cake. There may have been a time when it was just banana bread. Wrapped in this thin paper, which was wrapped in foil, which were in a ziploc bag. All of those were supposedly to keep it fresh, but all it did was put an obstacle in way of getting to the nanner bread.

She would get all settled in, and we would try to be polite before we asked… did you bring Nanner bread?

Now, inevitably, the day Mawmaw came, there was a story that was told. Told by my dad. Every time. Without fail. And it was this:

Ruffled, pack of cigarettes and a deck of cards

Whenever Mawmaw came to visit, there were a few other sureties: Making Dooby; Making Mawmaw jelly (so much… way too much.); Being called “darlin”; The occasional reminder from dad, “momma you can’t say that.” Grew up in a different time. But the most significant surety of her visits was her conversations that centered around her Bible.

I remember waking up early in the morning coming around the corner, or to the landing at 6am and see her reading her Bible. Didn’t know where the coffee was, so I would help by making her coffee, watered down and cooled down because we Foxes make it so strong and hot. To her credit she drank it black.

But that stuck out to me. Her relationship to her Pink King James Bible. How this was the first thing she would read. And for her, everything came back to the Bible. Everything had to connect back to Jesus Christ.

And that’s probably what I remember most.

One time “There is only One Lord. There ain’t no Lord of the Rings”

I wish I could recall all of the little things she would say to me, the pieces of wisdom, the biblical truths and conversations we would have. I wish I could remember, but the fact that i cant, is I think a testimony to how frequent they were.

Talking about the Lord was not a fanciful and rare event for Margaret. For her it was like breathing.

I remember the last time she visited, her quoting a verse, and I *think* it was 1 peter 1:2 . Talking about those who are chosen

1 Peter 1:2 ESV

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

and that’s the phrase I vividly remember her saying…. With his blood.

And that’s all you need to remember. This little phrase reflects a fundamental belief of Margaret. Just that last little phrase, what I remember her saying. And so I would like to honor her this morning by reminding you all of this belief of hers.

Sin

A few days before Margaret passed, mom went to visit her, and she and I began a text conversation about Hebrews 2:9

Hebrews 2:9 ESV

9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

She and I were talking about the death that he suffered, and what was that “taste of death” that he took for us?

This death that Jesus tasted for us, was what scripture calls “The second death”. This second death is Hell, or the wrath of God. It was this that Jesus Christ took in our place.

Mawmaw believed the Bible. She made sure everyone knew it too. The Bible says that all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And not just that we have sin, but that we are sinners. Yet we have been given the gift of being made in his image. Meaning you are not like the animals. You are different, you are made in his image. With inherent Dignity, value worth & purpose. And that great gift of has been used by each of us to oppose God, so that we act in some ways as if we are each our own god living our own life by our own standards. So there’s this tension; you’re made in his image, yet use it against him.

God

And this would not be a problem if God were like us. But God is not like us. God is Holy. (separate) And God is described as the Holiest of Holy; Holiness which transcends all his attributes. His love is a holy and great love, and not like our love. His wrath is a holy and great wrath, and not like our wrath. His goodness is a holy and great goodness, and not like our goodness. He is the first and best of all beings and made all things for his Glory, that all of creation would glorify God.

The problem

But Jesus says that all people are condemned already because of their sin. Sinning against a great and holy and eternal God carries great and eternal consequences. The second death. The depth of our sin is too great. The Holiness of God is too wide. Mawmaw depended on Jesus because she knew that we are not able to fix this problem on our own.

Yet God, being a righteous and just God, does not just shrug or ignore your sin, that would be corrupt and unjust. Instead, he looks directly at it, and punishes it. But he does so in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ

And so, Jesus Christ, God who was a man, came and walked among us. He experienced all of what it means to be human, and did it perfectly. He came and he comforted the brokenhearted and the afflicted. He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, discharged debtors, raised the dead. And then, he went to the cross.

He was killed at the hands of wicked man, as a fulfillment of God’s plan for all time to redeem His people. The Lord laid the sin of you and I upon Christ on the cross; He endured the wrath of God, Hell, the Second death on the cross, and died in my place for my sins, paying my debt to God. And he did this for me and he did this for you and everyone who would ever come to Christ. And then, he didn’t stay dead, but rose from the dead in victory over Satan, sin, death, demons and Hell.

He took that for Me… and you.

So that when you put your trust in him, He takes your sin, and my sin and mawmaw’s sin (Though we all know she was perfect), He takes our sin, and replaces it with his perfection. I am now, no longer under wrath or condemnation. The debt of my sin has been paid for by my faithful savior Jesus Christ. Paid for… with his Blood.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says,

Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Our Hope

This is our Hope. That Jesus has endured for us and won, and is currently seated on a throne, and all we have to do is to look to Him. The author and founder of our Faith.

That hope is not a fleeting hope, as in, “I hope the Rangers Win”

It is a confident hope;

a steadfast hope;

light at the end of a tunnel.

A surety of joy in the midst of sorrow.

we have this hope because God himself has spoken. He has spoken in His Word, and that word has proved true over and over and over again.

It is not a collection of coincidences and well timed accidents.

It is not a few observations of superstitious people, who then made changes later on to fit their narrative.

It is the consistent, reliable true word of God, and he has spoken clearly about himself.

God has spoken in His word, and because of this, I can trust in his promises. This was a fundamental belief of Margaret.

She lived by the confident hope that her Savior had washed her with his blood and was ruling over her life. With this hope… What can man do to me? What can disease do to me? What can old age, do to me? I’ve been bought by my faithful savior Jesus Christ.

Pain will not last

One of the most comforting things that comes from this Hope is that pain and sorrow will not last. We are not promised that pain and sorrow are removed in this life, but that though there is pain, it is nothing compared to what Christ endured, or what I deserve.

The hope we have is that death and sorrow are only a passing thing. Even pain and darkness will give way to glory that does not end. We can even have joy in the middle of sorrow BECAUSE of this confident hope.

Psalm 30:5 (ESV)

Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

And this joy is based not on what I do or have done, but on what Christ has done, and the fact that God will fulfill all his promises.

Invitation and Close

If you have not put your trust in Him, I urge you to do so…upon trusting in Him, and repenting from sins, we get to live the true life. That is I think the best promise of all. That death has no claim on us; and eternal life is possible for those who trust in Him. Eternal life of Glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.

When I think of someone who enjoys God, I think of Mawmaw. I think of my other grandma. Great women of Faith.

Margaret was a woman who had Christ. Who had faith, who trusted in Christ because he had redeemed her “with his blood”. She lived in faith of this confident, blessed hope, and did her best to be the example.

But it is no longer faith for her. It is sight. She has fought the good fight, she has won the race and she has received her eternal reward.

She has received it, alongside her husband Charles, who had the same hope as she. When he was afflicted with Alzheimers, He kept a little note in his wallet “Jesus is Lord,” just so he wouldn’t forget. And then he went, and entered into glory, 28 years ago.

Margaret lived 28 years exactly without her love Charles. But she spent that time every minute she could, in the wee hours of the night, early in the morning, in her prayer closet.... any chance she could, with her first love, Jesus Christ.

And now, Mawmaw and Pawpaw, Margaret and Charles, both are reunited together and with their savior in eternal glory.

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 ESV

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

7. If you could see me now - Music

8. Closing - Daniel - roses